With his Blind affliction gone and some of the feeding tubes cut, Bo found he was much more evenly matched against the Apocalypse Sow. The creature still had him wrapped up, but with his full Constitution, Severance, and Hungry Hungry Devil, the monstrous tentacle pig couldn’t put him down for the count. With only six cards in his deck, Bo could use Severance and Hungry Hungry Devil every other round. That was enough to keep up with the injuries Bo suffered at the hands of the weakened Sow. The gruesome pig beast, on the other hand, was only getting weaker as its augmentations were cut away.
He and his friends were winning.
“Look out below!” Jenny shouted.
Her cry dragged Bo's attention away from the grim task of chopping and eating his way into the Apocalypse Sow. What he saw made his eyes go wide and his pulse race.
She and Slick had sliced through the ropes holding one platform in place. The wooden structure, and the heavy metal machinery it supported, plummeted toward the pitmaster and his foe with terrifying speed.
“What have you done?” the Sow screamed.
“Just bringing down the house,” Bo replied and unleashed a chop from the Carnivore's Cleaver into the tentacle wrapped around his waist. Blood sprayed from the wounded appendage, and it uncoiled in an instant. Freed from his construction, the pitmaster dropped to his knees and sought shelter in the only place available: beneath one of the Apocalypse Sow's blubbery fat rolls.
A split second later, Bo heard the horrible squelching, crunching noise of the platform landing on the Sow.
Hard.
That sound was followed by an even more horrific keening from the wounded monster. A tidal wave of blood poured into Bo's makeshift shelter. The pitmaster struggled to free himself from his grotesque prison, but the creature's greasy, jiggling flesh was hard to move.
It's time to eat your way out. I hope you've got an appetite.
An examination of the creature showed Bo that Slick and Jenny knocked ten core levels off its augmentation. The impact of the falling platform had also caused a hindering wound. There was still a lot of fight left in the creature, but now Bo could see the light at the end of the tunnel. He just had to keep hacking and eating until he found the Sow’s core.
Find it quickly. The gamblers will flood into this room to defend the Sow. If you’re still rooting around in its gut, they’ll drag you out and tear you limb from limb.
“So encouraging,” Bo said.
Another platform smashed into the Apocalypse Sow, and its wooden corner punched through the beast's body. It stopped a few inches from Bo's face, causing him to take a deep, relieved breath, and alter his course to go around it. He didn't know exactly where the core was, but figured it had to be somewhere in the thing’s middle. Maybe near the heart.
Bo didn't know how long he was inside the Sow. Time had lost all meaning as he hacked and chewed hacked and chewed. He heard the wet thud of the creature's pulse, and its quickening rhythm urged him on. The moist pounding got louder and louder, telling Bo he was on the right track. Just a little more…
The Carnivore's Cleaver hit bone, shattered it, and burst through into an empty space. Bo dragged himself through the opening he'd created and was surprised to find himself bathed in a crimson light after so long in the dark. He'd made it into the creature's chest, and was now surrounded by a pair of enormous, heaving lungs and a pounding heart nearly as big as he was. The light came from a yard-wide blister embedded in the heart’s muscle.
That's the core! Rip it open, and eat it.
Bo took a deep, shuddering breath and examined the core. It was close enough to touch, and he looked into its churning, murky depths. The blister was filled with glowing fluid, not blood, but something more primal. As Bo watched, something moved inside the core. A pair of blue eyes opened and fixed Bo with a desperate stare. Their owner’s face appeared a moment later.
The sight stunned Bo.
There was a little girl—she couldn’t have been over five or six—trapped inside the core. Her hair and Aquanauts nightgown were plastered to her skinny body, and her mouth was open in a silent cry for help.
“No way,” Bo said. “I'm not killing a little girl.”
She was the core's original host. It built this monstrosity around her as it fed on the gamblers. I assure you, that is not a little girl. Finish this, before it's too late!
A horrible, gibbering cacophony came from outside the Apocalypse Sow. The gamblers had arrived. They'd find Bo's bloody tunnel and wriggle their way up into its chest to kill him. They might already have clambered across the rope ladders to reach Slick and Jenny. The longer Bo hesitated, the more likely it was that he and his friends would die down here.
Knowing all that wasn't enough to change his mind. He would not kill a little girl.
“There has to be another way,” Bo said.
There isn't. Deal with this problem, now, or we lose everything.
“Give me a second to think,” Bo said.
He studied the core and the girl trapped within it. Like the Sow, her skin was pierced by several thin, wriggling tubes. The other ends of those appendages were attached to a misshapen blob of meat that radiated an unwholesome glow. That, Bo instinctively knew, was the core. There might be a way to get the girl out of there, but he wasn’t sure it would work.
It's a waste of time. She will die as soon as you remove her from the core. They cannot be separated.
But Bo refused to kill a child in cold blood. He raised the Carnivore's Cleaver and drew its supernaturally sharp edge through the blister’s translucent skin. The membrane gave way with a faint tearing sound.
Radiant fluid spilled from the wound and carried the little girl into Bo's waiting arms. She was so small, so frail. Bo knew he couldn't let her die.
“Where are they?” She gasped. “Where are my parents?”
“Take it easy,” Bo said, holding the girl tight against his chest. The tubes that connected her to the core still lodged against the Sow's heart weren’t very long. They’d pulled taut when she slipped out of the blister, and were now tugging at her skin where they’d attached. The last thing the pitmaster wanted to do was rip those tubes out. Instead, he carefully sliced through the first one while watching the girl for any signs of discomfort.
“I have to find them,” she said, panicked. “Before the monsters get them.”
“Hang in there, kid,” Bo said, doing his best to keep the wriggling, soaking wet child from slipping out of his grasp. He didn't want to hurt her, but if he didn't hold her tight, she'd end up slipping from his grip and tearing the tubes out of her back.
A terrible ripping noise drew Bo's attention to the side of the sow's chest. A long, narrow gash had appeared between the creature's ribs, and gamblers thrust their withered heads through it. They hooted and howled, stick-thin arms dragging their bodies forward, yellow teeth clacking together.
“The monsters!” The little girl shouted. “They're coming!”
In her panic, the kid climbed Bo like a tree. She pulled the tubes tighter and cried out in pain.
“Stop it!” Bo shouted.
You stop it. There's no time for this foolishness. You cannot save everyone.
Bo refused to believe that. There was always time to do the right thing, even if it wasn't convenient. He cut through more of the tubes, doing his best to ignore the girl's screaming and the horrible sounds of the approaching gamblers. Blackened nails clawed at his arms, rotten teeth clashed inches away from his legs.
“There,” Bo gasped as he sliced through the last of the tubes. “Hang on, kid.”
Bo willed himself a new hand of cards, and blew out a sigh of relief when Hackstorm appeared in his mind's eye. He didn't even care what the other cards were, he just needed some space. With a barbaric battle cry, he activated the card and clutched the child close to him with his free hand. The cleaver went to work, transforming the surrounding gamblers from deadly threats to a collection of severed arms and heads.
Enough playing around. Devour the core!
“I'm working on it,” Bo said. “You can’t even give me an attaboy before you demanding me to do even more? We really have to work on your motivational techniques, Barbie.”
“Why are you talking to yourself?” The little girl asked. “My Uncle Jimmy talked to himself. Mom says it’s because he did too much math and the smoke rotted his brain. But she always made me do my math work, and I never saw any smoke. Do you do math, Mister?”
“I'm not crazy,” Bo said, and banished the cleaver from his hand. He reached up, grabbed the core, and ripped it out of the sow's heart.
The beast screamed, its lungs emptying around Bo. The blood that should have flooded from the wounded heart merely oozed black and thick and foul. Ebony veins of rot spread through the muscle, into the bones that surrounded it, and disappeared into the sow's body. With its power gone, the creature was rotting from the inside out.
Yes, it's horrible. Eat the core before the gamblers kill you and your friends.
“I just eat it?” Bo asked.
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“Please stop talking yourself,” the little girl whimpered. “You're scaring me.”
Yes! Eat it.
Bo closed his eyes and pretended the core clutched in his hand was a ripe, juicy apple. Then he opened his mouth wide and bit down on the strange, glowing object.
The instant his teeth pierced the fleshy rind, the most intense, indescribable flavor flooded the pitmaster’s mouth. He’d never tasted anything like this before. It wasn't meaty, or sweet, or salty, or even umami. This was an exquisite, nameless flavor he'd sought his entire life to capture without realizing he was even searching for it. It was the best thing Bo had ever tasted, and he took another bite, and another, and another. Far too soon, the core was gone.
He needed more. He licked the juices from his fingers. That couldn't be all. There had to be more.
“Stop looking at me like that,” the little girl said.
“Like what?” Bo asked.
“Like you’re going to eat me,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “The way you ate that thing.”
“Oh, sorry,” Bo said. “I'm not a weirdo. I just lost it for a second there. It’s been a rough day.”
“You can put me down now,” the kid said. “And thanks. I didn't think anyone would ever come for me.”
The little girl's eyes were wide and trusting. She wanted to believe that Bo could help her, that he wasn’t a crazed lunatic although he was covered in blood and had licked the top of her head. The pitmaster wanted to say something that would encourage her, make it clear that he was there to help. But before he could say a word, they fell.
The Apocalypse Sow vanished. Its body rotted away to nothing, evaporating into purple smoke that rose high into the air around where Bo and the little girl lay on a pile of crypt coins. It was impossible to see through the thick haze, and Bo crossed his fingers that his friends were still up there, somewhere.
At least the gamblers were gone.
They'd done it.
They'd won.
----------------------------------------
“What’s wrong with you, mister?” the little girl asked. “Do you have the ‘betes? My meemaw was about your size, and when she drank too much Mountain Dew, she’d just lie on the ground and twitch.”
Bo wanted to answer the little girl. He really did. But his entire body had convulsed when a series of system messages flashed across his vision. He had some choices to make, and he couldn’t talk or do anything else until he’d finished.
GRAIL SYSTEM ADVANCEMENT ALERT
Congratulations, Bo Houston! You have advanced from Core Level 0 to Core Level 1. You have gained 1 Ability Advance, which may be applied as you see fit.
STR: +2, DEX: 0, INT: 0, WIS: -1, RES: 0, CON: +4
Please apply this advance now to continue.
SELECT AN ABILITY TO ADVANCE NOW
Improve your intelligence, please. I need more stimulating intellectual discourse.
Bo ignored Barbie’s suggestion. He wasn’t stupid and improving his Intelligence from 0 to 1 seemed like a too small of an improvement.
Well, yes, but if you add a point to your Intelligence every time you advance, you’ll be at least semi-coherent in no time at all. With enough work, you might even reach the same level as a goblin.
Bo opted to lean into his strengths, literally, and assigned the advance to his Strength ability.
I suppose that is an adequate choice if you want to become a hulking brute focused only on smashing things.
While that wasn’t exactly what Bo had in mind, it also wasn’t that far off the mark. Most of his cards worked off Strength or Constitution. The higher he raised those ability scores, the more cards he could activate in a round.
GRAIL SYSTEM ADVANCEMENT REPORT
Name: Beauregard Euless Houston
Heritage: Human (native)
Core Level: 1
Alignment: Neutral Good
Origin: Earth 696
Deck Type: Striker
STR: +3, DEX: 0, INT: 0, WIS: -1, RES: 0, CON: +4
Status: Healthy
Deck Upgrades
Maximum deck size increased from 5 to 10 cards.
Hand size increased from 3 to 4 cards.
CHALLENGE UPDATE
Completed Challenge: Assert Dominance
Congratulations, Champion! You have completed this challenge and are now the official Champion of the Red River Casino Hex. You may now install a community anchor in your hex.
CHALLENGE ASSIGNED!
Assert Dominance, Part 2
There are two rival forces in hexes adjacent to the Red River Casino Hex: Grunge Elf Heartrakers, and Refugee Scavengers.
GOAL: Remove these threats to your hex.
REWARD: 1 to 3 Hex Tokens based on performance.
PENALTY: If this quest is not completed in thirty days, the Red River Casino Hex will be attacked by one or more rival forces.
APOCALYPSE SOW KILL REWARDS
10,000 Crypt Coins have been moved from the dungeon’s loot to your personal inventory.
Three Blank Expert Decks have been added to your personal inventory.
Four upgrade cards have been added to your deck.
The Hog’s Hop card has been added to your deck.
END GRAIL SYSTEM STATUS REPORT
Bo wasn’t thrilled at the new challenge he’d been assigned. He’d scarcely gotten one problem dealt with, and now there were two more stacked on his shoulders. First, though, he had to get out of this hole in the ground.
At least the convulsions had stopped. Bo sat up, tried to stand, and nearly fell flat on his face. His body felt strange, and his arms and legs moved more quickly and forcefully than he remembered.
Of course they do. You’ve enhanced your strength. It will take a bit to get used to the change in your physique.
“Don’t fall on me,” the girl said, raising both hands as if she could ward Bo off if he took a header..
“I won’t,” Bo replied. “You all right, kid?”
“My name’s Bev, not kid,” she replied. “I guess I’m okay. If you don’t fall on me. We need to find my parents.”
“I already told you, I won’t fall.” Bo decided it was best not to test that theory by walking around. He also didn’t know what to say about the little girl’s parents. They were probably gamblers who were now very dead.
Dealing with that was a problem for future Bo.
The Sow’s former lair was a disaster. Broken platforms and wrecked machinery littered the floor with shards of wood and twisted metal. The fallen feeding tubes snaked through the wreckage like tangles of overcooked spaghetti noodles. There was no sign of the Apocalypse Sow’s body, the feeding harness, or the small mountain of coins the creature had used for its bed.
Boss monsters are recycled upon their deaths. All the coins were moved into your personal inventory by the system. You should look at your new card. I wonder if it’s any good.
“Glad to see you’re up and around, Bo,” Jenny called down to him. “Think you could give us a hand before this platform falls and kills me and Slick?”
Bo looked up to see Jenny and Slick peering over the edge of the last platform still suspended from the lair’s walls. The rope ladders that had connected their precarious perch to the catwalk were no longer attached to the platform, but hung from the railing above him.
“You guys cut the ladders to keep the gamblers from reaching you?” Bo asked.
“Yup,” Slick said.
“Should’ve thought about how you’d get back down,” Bo said with a grin. “I’d climb up there to help you, but I’ve got a little girl to babysit.”
“If you don’t get up here, I’ll jump down there and whip your tail myself,” Jenny shouted.
“Hang on,” Bo said. “I’m on my way.”
But first, he looked at his new card.
Hog's Hop
TYPE: Power
ACTIVATE: 2S
GENERATE: 3S
POWER: 2
Throw a melee weapon up to 30 feet. At the start of your next turn, you appear at the weapon's location and cause POW damage to all adjacent enemies.
RARITY: Rare
Well, that was interesting. Bo equipped Carnivore’s Cleaver with a thought. He took aim on the walkway above and hurled the weapon into the air. Bo’s shot was true, and the cleaver landed on the wooden catwalk with a clatter.
Well, this will be intere—
Bo’s stomach clenched into a queasy fist as the world blurred around him. He had a sense of upward movement that lasted a split-second, and then his boot heels touched down on the wooden slats.
—sting.
“Whoa,” Bo said, grabbing hold of the rail with his left hand to balance himself. “That’ll be useful.”
“Can you stop screwing around and get us down?” Slick asked.
“If you stop whining, I’ll consider it,” Bo said.
“Might as well ask you to stop eating brisket,” Jenny said. “Please, oh mighty Champion, rescue us from our perilous plight.”
“Since you asked so nicely,” Bo said, and pulled one of the severed rope ladders up onto the walkway. He rolled up a few coils around his hand, cocked his arm back over his shoulder, and hurled the rope to his friends.
Or hurled it in their general direction. He underestimated his strength, sending the ladder arcing over his friends’ heads. Jenny and Slick ducked out of the way as the ropes slapped down on their platform. The pair recovered quickly and set to work, securing the ropes to the platform. Fortunately, Slick had plenty of experience with knots from a youth spent as a sailor, and could tie the severed ends of the roper ladder to the dangling ends left where they’d cut it loose from their platform.
“Hey, mister,” Bev called up from the bottom of the lair. “I’m just a little kid, but I don’t think the floor’s supposed to have cracks in it.”
Bo was about to ask the kid what she was talking about when a rain of pebbles struck him on the head and shoulders. The sound of stones grinding against each other followed the miniature avalanche. Tremors shook the walkway and sent the rope ladder bouncing.
“Better stop lollygagging,” Bo called out to his friends. “This place is coming apart at the seams.”
“Always something with you!” Slick shouted.
Jenny didn’t waste time with words. She dropped to all fours and scrambled out onto the rope bridge like a monkey. Though the bridge bucked beneath her, she held on tight and made it to Bo without a slip or stumble.
“Come on, Slick,” she shouted back to the older man. “Show us how it’s done.”
“I’m gonna die,” he said, but didn’t dilly dally. He sat on the edge of the platform, grabbed a rung on the rope ladder, and dropped beneath it.
Unlike Jenny, Slick relied solely on his grip strength to get him across. He swung from one rung to the next like a kid on a jungle gym. His form wasn’t great, but at his age, he did a fine job.
Right until he reached for the platform.
Slick misjudged his handhold and was left dangling from the rope ladder by one hand. His weight swung violently on the end of his arm, and he cried out in surprise and pain at the sudden strain on the limb.
Bo threw himself down on the walkway and thrust his arm between the rope ladder’s flexible rungs. He caught hold of Slick’s wrist and looked his friend in the eye.
“Let go of the ladder,” Bo commanded. “I’ve got you.”
“I can’t,” Slick said, his eyes wide with fear. “I’ll fall.”
“We don’t have time for this shit,” Jenny said. She reached past Bo and hacked at the ladder with her knife. The blade hacked through the rung with a single swipe.
Slick unleashed a stream of profanity that blistered Bo’s ears. His eyes bugged from their sockets, and he flailed his other arm wildly to grab hold of something, anything.
“Stop struggling,” Bo commanded, and dragged the older man up onto the walkway.
His only reward was a grateful sigh from Slick, and a falling rock that smacked him on the shoulder.
“Time to go,” Jenny said.
“Get gone,” Bo agreed. “I’ve got to get Bev out of here.”
“Bo,” Jenny said. “Where did that kid come from?”
“Inside her Royal Porkiness,” the pitmaster replied. “Be right back.”
“This feels like a trap,” Jenny said, as Bo descended the ladder to the lair’s floor. “Maybe you should leave her behind. She might be some leftover bit of the she-ham”
“I’m not leaving a kid down here,” Bo said, and jumped the last eight feet to the lair’s floor.
“Gee, thanks, Mister,” Bev replied.
“I’m just surrounded by smartasses,” Bo grumbled, and scooped her up. “Can you hang onto my back?”
Bev answered by wrapping her arms around his neck and legs around his waist. Once she was secure on his back, she said, ‘That was a bad word. You’ll have to put some money in the swear jar.”
“That jar’s been full a long time,” Bo said, and clambered back up the ladder.
Rocks were falling much more frequently now, and their impacts against the stone floor had become a steady clatter. Cracks in the floor had spread to the walls, and climbed up their stone faces faster than Bo could climb.
There was still a long way to go to the surface.
“Don’t let me die down here,” the little girl whispered in Bo’s ear.
“I won’t,” Bo promised.
And prayed he wasn’t lying.
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